Snow-day fatigue setting in across Memphis

Novelty of free time wears families thin

Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal
March 5, 2014 — Stuck at home for a third snow day Javia Murrell, 11, has little to do other than play her bass. She has played it so much in the last few days that her mother has threatened to banish her outside with it.

When snow and ice shut down schools on Monday, Tori Murrell, her kids and her in-home day-care clients made ice cream and adventurous forays around their Raleigh neighborhood.

By Wednesday, the freezing rain and fog had worn them down. The double bass on loan from Shelby County Schools was about to go out the front door.

"I'm tired of hearing her practice it," said Murrell, minutes after she and the kids (including bass player, Javia, 11) arrived home from Massage Envy Spa and the bookstore, the quickest ways she could think of to restore peace in the house.

"These kids like noise. Anything that allows them to be jumping up and down and going off the wall, they are fine with that," Murrell said.

And she wasn't exactly kidding about the bass. "I often send her outside with it. I like the neighbors to enjoy her to the fullest."

In East Memphis, Angie Brittain was planning a family trip to the movies Wednesday afternoon, after an emergency stop at the grocery.

"We're a little weary of each other," she said. "Parents are a little worried about spring break next week after having most of this week off.

"I understand that safety is paramount and the electrical outages in some schools. We totally understand, but are we ever glad we extended the school day, so snow days are automatically built in," Brittain said.

They are built in but that doesn't mean kids won't be making up all or at least some of the six days that have been called this school year for weather.

Supt. Dorsey Hopson told reporters Wednesday he was considering make-up days anyway to help improve student achievement. Three hours later, the district announced that ten schools, in the northern tier of the county, would be closed Thursday, the fourth day this week.

"Nothing precludes us from making those days up," Hopson said, "From our standpoint, our kids need to be in school, particularly when you have literacy rates of 28 percent."

Friday is the end of the SCS third quarter, which means hundreds of students have missed quarterly tests. This week is also the height of spring music competitions, including West Tennessee choir and orchestra festivals, which were scheduled Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and have been postponed.

Through the magic of bus rerouting, the West Tennessee Band Directors Association Concert Festival is now expected to come to life at Colonial Middle Thursday instead of Overton High.

"We had to change it from Overton because the statewide ACT test was rescheduled from Tuesday to Thursday," said Dr. Dru Davison, head of SCS arts education.

"Now, the ACT test has been rescheduled," he said, his voice reflecting quiet resignation.

Parent Susan Mealer is in charge of sending the email blast to band students once a week at White Station High. Tuesday night, the message from band director Charles Wright was two words: Keep practicing.

"What else can he do?" Mealer said Wednesday. "You'd like to get in those final rehearsals before the festival."

She feels bad for the teachers, who had been sending emails since last week, offering to stay after school to help students before quarterly tests. "There were lots of missed opportunities," she said.

Somewhere around Millington High School, Anthony Washington had posted to-do lists for his teenage son, complete with deadlines in military time.

"Clean all the toilets as taught before 1600 hour. Number two, sweep all the tile floors on the first floor before 1900 hours," Washington said, ticking the chores.

"Most of the time, he does the right thing, but we have to curtail things in the house. When he's home alone, there is no Internet access. We also don't allow him to watch TV."

On a bright note, the whole Brittain family noticed it was less exhausted, even by Wednesday.

"Our two older students, have a 7 a.m. start time, which is miserable for them and our entire family. Not being up at 5:30 a.m. for a 6:45 bell time has been truly wonderful," Brittian said.

"We are really hoping that when things are sorted out, with the municipals leaving, that the district will look at these 7 a.m. start times."